Albania – Researched and compiled by the Refugee Documentation Centre of
Ireland on 28 August 2015
Information on the prevalence of blood feuds in Albania and the ability of the
State to protect citizens who are threatened by families involved in blood feuds.
A Xinhua General News Service report states:
“In Albania, blood feud exists in some rural areas. More than 5,500 Albanian families are
currently engaged in blood feuds. There are now more than 20,000 men and boys who
live under an ever-present death sentence because of blood feuds. Since 1992, at least
10,000 Albanians have been killed due to blood feuds.” (Xinhua General News Service
(24 April 2014) Sniper kills old man in Albania)
An Agence France Presse report states:
“Since they were born, nine-year-old Nikolin and his older brother Amarildo, 12, have
never left their house in Albania. They do not play outside, nor do they go to school. The
boys are imprisoned because of a blood feud, or vendetta, with neighbours that has
made them fear for their lives. Their uncle killed a neighbour in a 1993 dispute and,
although he was jailed for 25 years, the victim's family -- living only a dozen metres
(yards) away -- has vowed to avenge the death. Albanians still respect the tradition of
vendetta, which dates back to the 15th century and spares no male in a family, including
babies. The brutal custom is widely followed in the poor mountainous regions in the
north of the country, but also in some villages and towns in other regions.” (Agence
France Presse (6 October 2013) Doomed lives of Albania's children of vendetta)
A Reuters report states:
“Blood feuds are not specific to one religious group, however the phenomenon exists
almost exclusively in northern Albania. Citizens in the southern part of the country balk
at the tradition held by some of their neighbors in the rural, poorer north. Geographically
isolated by mountainous terrain, northern villages maintained more autonomy under 46
years of Communist rule and preserved more customary laws of the Kanun. After the
regime’s fall in 1991, renewed disputes over land and weakened rule of law led to a
resurgence of blood feuds. Free movement and migration became legal and citizens
from rural areas flocked to cities, spreading blood feuds to bigger population centers.”
(Reuters (10 December 2015) Albanian ‘blood feuds’ force families into isolation)
The US Department of State report on Albania for the events of 2014, in a section titled
“Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of Life”, states:
“Incidents of societal killings, including both ‘blood feud’ and revenge killings, occurred
during the year. Such killings at times involved criminal gangs. Although long-standing
traditions surrounding blood feuds prohibit killing children or women, nongovernmental
organizations (NGOs) reported cases in which perpetrators intentionally targeted minors
or women. The ombudsman reported that authorities’ efforts to protect families or
prevent blood feud killings were insufficient.” (US Department of State (25 June 2015)
2014 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices – Albania, p.2)
This section of the report also states:
“The police reported four blood feud killings during the first six months of the year. Other
NGOs reported higher numbers, but data were unreliable. In 2013 the government
amended the law to increase penalties for premeditated murder, when committed for a
blood feud, from 20 years’ or life imprisonment to no less than 30 years’ or life
imprisonment. Jurisdiction over blood feud cases was transferred from district courts to
the serious crimes courts.” (ibid, p.3)
A report from the UN Human Rights Council, in a section titled “Continued occurrence of
blood feud killings” (paragraph 12), states:
“At present, blood feuds and related killings appear to still occur in Albania and
constitute an issue of concern. The lack of comprehensive and fully reliable statistical
data renders it difficult to refer to concrete figures of the current scope of the
phenomenon and analyse its dynamics. In parallel, information received from various
sources confirms that such killings still affect the population in some parts of the country,
in particular in the northern areas of Albania. Some families still opt for self-isolation due
to fear of reprisal.” (UN Human Rights Council (23 April 2013) Report of the Special
Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, Addendum: Follow-up to
country recommendations: Albania, pp.5-6)
In paragraph 13 this report states:
“According to the information provided to the Special Rapporteur by the Government of
Albania, the official statistics of the General Directorate of State Police indicate that five
blood feud killings and five revenge motivated killings occurred in 2010; five blood feud
killings and four revenge motivated killings took place in 2011; and two blood feud
killings and two revenge motivated killings were registered in the first six months of
2012. According to the same source, as of early April 2013, there were 67 self-isolated
families due to blood feuds, and 33 children not attending school for the same reason.
Of those children, 23 were registered in the region of Shkodra, in northern Albania.”
(ibid, p.6)
In paragraph 14 this report refers to statistical data for blood feud related killings as
follows:
“Furthermore, the current statistical data gathered by the Ministry of Justice from district
courts, as made available by the Government of Albania, indicate that 50 cases of
revenge and blood feud killings were filed with the courts in the period from January
2010 to June 2012. A total of 24 cases were filed in 2010, 17 cases were filed in 2011,
while the first six months of 2012 registered 9 cases. From the point of view of the
Government, these figures from the Ministry of Justice indicate a trend of reduction of
blood feud crimes during the last two years. However, it is unclear to the Special
Rapporteur to what extent the statistical data provided on cases in courts reflect the
actual situation of blood feud-related killings in the country. He recalls in this regard the
comments made by his predecessor on the challenges to accurately define the extent of
the phenomenon, due to the parallel use of several differing definitions and the
fragmentation of statistical data, as well as to the possible underreporting by both
affected families and officials.” (ibid, p.6)
Regarding penalties for blood feud murder paragraph 15 of the report states:
“According to credible information received by the Special Rapporteur, blood feud
killings continue to occur in part due to a tendency of the judiciary to impose lighter
sentences on perpetrators, despite the fact that the Criminal Code of Albania provides
for serious penalties for blood feud murder or threat.” (ibid, p.6)
Paragraph 16 states:
“The Special Rapporteur received further information that current blood feud killings
sometimes no longer follow the traditional pattern established by the Kanun rules, which
reportedly authorize the killing of male members of a family, and strictly forbid killing
women and children. In the current context, following a conflict situation, there are cases
where a person may feel vindicated in killing the other individual or any member of his
family, including women and children. In this regard, the Special Rapporteur notes with
concern the reported killing, in a blood feud, of a 14-year-old girl in May 2012.” (ibid, p.6)
An article from the online edition of the German news magazine Spiegel states:
“Blood feuds still exist in Albania and those involved have to live a life in hiding. They
include people like Leonard Qukaj, who has left his home only rarely in the last four
years for fear of being murdered by a rival clan -- or by his own uncle.” (Spiegel Online
(6 June 2014) 'We'll Get You': An Albanian Boy's Life Ruined by Blood Feuds)
In a paragraph headed “Spilled Blood” this article states:
“Shkoder is just as deeply divided as the rest of the country. On the one hand, it is a
place looking optimistically to the future; this week, Albania was given the green light by
the European Commission as an EU accession candidate. On the other hand, it is a
country where corruption, human trafficking and organized crime are all present. It is a
country where blood feuds are still prevalent -- of the kind that could soon cost Leonard
his life. ‘Spilled blood must be met with spilled blood’: Such is the edict of the Kanun, a
set of traditional Albanian laws that stems from the 15th century. It is a parallel system of
justice focusing on honor, guilt and vengeance, and remains in effect in rural regions.
And here in Shkoder. It threatens entire families, including children and teenagers. And
the feuds that result often begin with a seemingly harmless quarrel.” (ibid)
See also paragraph headed “'We're Going to Get You'” which states:
“The state has played down the problem for years. The police chief of Shkoder claims
that cases of blood revenge have fallen dramatically, with only 208 reported in the region
since 1991. And yet, he says, thousands of Albanians have sought asylum abroad,
claiming their lives were in danger because of a feud. It's his belief that they have
abused the tradition in order to seek better lives in Europe. But the government has
nonetheless tightened penalties for blood feud crimes. Until very recently, perpetrators
faced maximum prison sentences of 25 years, but the figure has now been increased to
40. ”But people like Leonard, his cousins and his brother are still hunted as a result of
this tradition. Non-governmental organizations estimate that around 1,500 young men
around the country are forced to hide in their homes because they are targeted. If they
reach adulthood, they often become killers themselves to avenge their families.” (ibid)
A Balkan Insight article states:
“The scale of the problem is hard to monitor as there are deep discrepancies in statistics
on blood feuds and related killings. Local media and non-governmental organizations
refer to dozens of blood-feud killings per year and to hundreds of children living in
isolation as a consequence. On the other hand, government statistics claim that such
killings fell sharply in number over the last decade. According to the Ombudsman’s
report, there were 98 murders due to vendettas from 2001 to 2012, including five in the
first nine months of the last year. ‘Murders due to blood feuds account for 34.4 per cent
of the murders that have occurred in Albania in the past two decades,’ the report notes.
‘In most cases the person who committed the murder was pressed by his family to
commit the crime,’ it added. From 2001 until 2012, 1,559 families in Albania were
involved in blood feuds, while a decade earlier the figure was 8,229 families.” (Balkan
Insight (3 April 2013) Blood Feuds Still Blight Albanian Lives, Report Says)
In a speech at the blood feud phenomenon round table British Ambassador Nicholas
Cannon commented on blood feuds as follows:
“From my perspective, there are four main problems in tackling the blood feud
phenomenon. The first is lack of objective information. Nobody seems to have a clear
idea of how common blood feuds are. Whenever my embassy has asked the Albanian
State Police, their advice and statistics suggest that blood feuds of the classic type are
relatively rare, and the number of killings as a result of such feuds is very few. Of course
the climate of fear created by feuds is not necessarily linked directly to the number of
deaths. But this would suggest that the blood feud phenomenon is a small and localised
problem. The press, which reports murders every day in Albania, also rarely carries
stories of what one might describe as the classic blood feud situation. However, NGOs
and the Office of the Ombudsman are convinced that official figures do not reflect the
reality of a much wider problem involving thousands of families. They argue that there is
either a deliberate or inadvertent official cover-up of a grave situation. So we don't even
know the scale of the problem we are dealing with.” (UK Foreign and Commonwealth
Office (13 December 2013) Speech: The blood feud phenomenon)
Paragraph 2.2.3 of a UK Home Office Report quotes an FCO letter from the British
Embassy in Tiranaas follows:
“Previous Country Information Guidance on blood feud in Albania cited a 2002 NGO
report in which it was claimed that ‘most of the houses in Northern Albania look like
fortresses built of stone, with small apertures serving as windows. Even to date many
Albanians shut themselves inside their houses where they remain isolated for life in
order to escape from blood vengeance’. This is simply not true. Embassy staff travel
widely to all parts of Albania. Most towns in northern Albania are bustling provincial
centres with no sign that ‘many Albanians shut themselves in for life’. The passage
bears no relation to reality and is misleading. There remain a small number of such
towers, but these are historical relics.’ “(UK Home Office (17 March 2015) Country
Information and Guidance – Albania: Blood feuds, p.10)
This response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently
available to the Research and Information Unit within time constraints. This response is
not and does not purport to be conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to
refugee status or asylum. Please read in full all documents referred to.
References:
Agence France Presse (6 October 2013) Doomed lives of Albania's children of vendetta
http://www.lexisnexis.com
(Accessed 28 August 2015)
This is a subscription database
Balkan Insight (3 April 2013) Blood Feuds Still Blight Albanian Lives, Report Says
http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/article/blood-feuds-still-blight-albanian-lives-reportsays
Reuters (10 December 2015) Albanian ‘blood feuds’ force families into isolation
http://blogs.reuters.com/events/2013/12/10/albanian-blood-feuds-force-families-intoisolation/
(Accessed 28 August 2015)
Spiegel Online (6 June 2014) 'We'll Get You': An Albanian Boy's Life Ruined by Blood
Feuds
http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/blood-feuds-still-prevalent-in-albania-a973498.html
(Accessed 27 August 2015)
UK Home Office (17 March 2015) Country Information and Guidance – Albania: Blood
feuds
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/413856/C
IG_Albania_Blood_feuds_v_2_0.pdf
(Accessed 27 August 2015)
UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office (13 December 2013) Speech: The blood feud
phenomenon
http://www.ein.org.uk/members/country-report/speech-blood-feud-phenomenon
(Accessed 28 August 2015)
This is a subscription database
UN Human Rights Council (23 April 2013) Report of the Special Rapporteur on
extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, Addendum: Follow-up to country
recommendations: Albania
http://www.refworld.org/docid/51b993184.html
(Accessed 27 August 2015)
US Department of State (25 June 2015) 2014 Country Reports on Human Rights
Practices – Albania
http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/236704.pdf
(Accessed 27 August 2015)
Xinhua General News Service (24 April 2014) Sniper kills old man in Albania
http://www.lexisnexis.com
(Accessed 28 August 2015)
This is a subscription database
Sources Consulted:
Electronic Immigration Network
European Country of Origin Information Network
Google
Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada
Lexis Nexis
Refugee Documentation Centre Query Database
UK Home Office
UNHCR Refworld
US Department of State